Anatomy in Japanese

A Guide in English for Insane People


Okay, I'll admit it. This is an incredibly strange niche.

"Sudo," I hear you ask, "Why in God's name would you want to learn anatomy in Japanese?". Well, I'm afraid the answer is autism, so if you're also autistic enough to learn this for fun (or perhaps you would like to work as a medical professional in Japan), I hope this section of the website becomes your torture method of choice.

Some notes before we get started:

  • This guide follows Gray's Anatomy for Students (4th Ed) in English and Gray's Anatomy for Students (3rd Ed) in Japanese. Originally I was going to translate the anatomical terms myself, but this became increasingly problematic as terms found on the internet were shaky in their validity.
  • If your course uses any of the Gray's Anatomy books, the information herein has been verified according to the editions above and should be suitable to learn.
  • I take no responsibility for rogue professors that make up their own words and strike this information as incorrect. If you're learning this for a course, always check the information is correct and relevant according to what the professor has provided you in your classes, etc.
  • This guide is mainly for use outside of classes, but might help solidify some concepts in your mind due to all the extra effort it takes to learn the vocabulary in a foreign language (especially one peppered with pictograms, like Japanese). With that said, if you're currently still taking human anatomy, you might want to cool your jets. That is a lot of info to take on board without adding Japanese on top.

I highly advise you not to start this guide until you can at least read kana. You don't have to be an expert, but you should be able to recognise them reliably. I don't provide romaji as I view it as a crutch.

Now, without further ado:


Section 1:

What is anatomy?

かいぼうがくとはなに


Introduction

This section provides us with a useful overview of various anatomical terms, directions, and landmarks of significance. It is here we will pick up a good portion of our basic vocabulary. We'll start off by taking a look at the various kanji used in these words.

It's important to remember that kanji have additional readings and meanings in different words. I have only included what is relevant to anatomy and/or what will help you to remember. If you're curious about the other uses for a particular kanji, look it up on Jisho.

Remember, kanji have different meanings when used as a part of words. Learning kanji individually is technically irrelevant for our purposes, but it may help you remember the composition of a word better. For example, "dissection" is a combination of solution and divide.

Included Kanji

かい
solution
ぼう
divide
がく
study
にく
meat
がん
eyeball

construct
しき
fabric
きょく
bureau
しょ
place
けい
system
とう
overall
しん
somebody
たい
body

section

rank
かく
each

utensil
かん
organ

Vocabulary

English Kanji Kana
dissect 解剖 かいぼう
anatomy 解剖学 かいぼうがく
gross/microscopic anatomy 肉眼解剖学 にくがんかいぼうがく
histology 組織学 そしきがく
regional anatomy 局所解剖学 きょくしょかいぼうがく
systemic anatomy 系統解剖学 けいとうかいぼうがく
region 身体の部位 しんたいのぶい
each organ system 各器官系 かくきかんけい